It Should've Been You
by arysa13
Summary: In a world where a mark appears on your chest when you meet your soulmate, Courtney thinks the whole idea is stupid and would rather focus on other things... like winning one hundred thousand dollars. That is until she meets hers.
1. Show the Marks Upon Your Skin

It was a fact of life that from the moment you were born, your soulmate would be discussed everyday of your life. When you met your soulmate a pattern of sorts would appear on your chest above your heart. A tattoo like mark that was unique to everyone. Then, when you kissed the person who was your soulmate, the black marks would fill with colour. And the idea of finding ones soulmate consumed everybody. The whole world was desperate to find that one person they were destined for. Every one that is, except for Courtney Castillo.

For the first thirteen years of her life she was enamoured by the idea of finding a soulmate. Her parents were soulmates, some of her friends had already met theirs. But at thirteen, her parents divorced.

"I don't understand!" a thirteen year old Courtney had cried to her mother. "You're _soulmates_. Doesn't that outweigh everything else in the whole world?"

Her mother looked down onto her daughters tear stained face and she sighed.

"I wish it did," she said with a sad smile. And so, it was at thirteen that Courtney figured out soulmates didn't really mean anything. It was a hard lesson for her to learn, and she learnt it a lot earlier than most of her friends, but she learnt it none the less. She figured if you could spend your whole life looking for someone, and then find them, and _know _for certain they were the one, from the way your marks lit up when you kissed them, only to have them leave you anyway, then what was the point? She knew then that she was better off focusing on her studies, and getting a good career. Other people only got in her way anyway. She would use them to her advantage but never run the risk of getting attached to anyone. Not even her soulmate. No, _especially _not her soulmate.

* * *

><p>Fast forward three years and Courtney stepped off a boat onto a dock, where she greeted twenty other teenagers that she was ready to defeat in order to win $100000. She acted sweet and nice, of course. She was going to need to form alliances at some point in order to make it to the end. But she knew from watching thirteen seasons of Survivor as research that a strong player's greatest downfall was almost always being too trusting. So her game plan was to trust no one and never take off the prize.<p>

They were placed in their teams. She knew right away she didn't like any of them. _You don't have to like them, _she reminded herself, _you just have to pretend to. _

"Alright campers! It's time for the first challenge," Chris McLean announced. "Get into your swimsuits and meet me on top of the cliff!"

In the cabin, Courtney tried her best not to be snappy at the extremely annoying girls who were dressed exactly alike. Katie and Sadie, she remembered, though she hadn't a clue which was which. Then there was Eva, and frankly she was down right scary, even to Courtney, who was afraid of nothing. And then there was Bridgette, who seemed… normal? Only time would tell.

She was dressed in her swimsuit and about to leave the cabin when Sadie… (or Katie was it?) stopped her.

"Oh my god, Courtney, who's your soulmate?" she shrieked excitedly.

"I don't…" Courtney started, looking down at her chest, where Sadie was staring. Courtney eyes widened when she saw the black swirls peeking out from her bikini top. "Oh no. That wasn't there before," she said, trying not to panic.

"Ohmygod Courtney, that means your soulmate is on this island!" Sadie gushed. "This is so exciting! We can help you figure out who it is! We'll just look and see who else has the marks."

"But you guys have them too," Courtney said, noticing Katie and Sadie's spiralling tattoos, almost identical to each other.

"Oh but we've had them forever!" Katie explained.

"We're each others soulmate!" Sadie squealed.

"This soulmate business is getting on my nerves! Get out of my way!" Eva growled, pushing past the girls and outside.

"Wow, she is like, so mean," Sadie sniffed.

"So mean. It's just because she doesn't have one," Katie agreed. She and Sadie then followed Eva outside. Courtney groaned and futilely tried to rub off the marks that had evidently appeared the moment she'd stepped on the dock.

_It doesn't matter,_ she told herself. _You don't have to do anything about it. It's just a pretty mark for all you care. _But deep down she did care. Some part of her had assumed that if she didn't _want _a soulmate, she wouldn't get one. She had honestly thought she'd never have to worry about the marks. But now that they were there… her twelve year old self came bubbling to the surface, excited by the idea of finding someone to love for the rest of her life. She quickly squashed the notion. Soulmates were stupid.

"You're not the only one," Bridgette said to her as they left the cabin together.

"What are you talking about?" Courtney asked her.

"I got one today too," Bridgette confided. It wasn't visible as she was wearing a wetsuit, but Bridgette seemed to be genuine. For a moment Courtney wondered if Bridgette was her soulmate. That wouldn't be so bad. She wasn't attracted to the girl but maybe that would be better.

It soon became apparent when they reached the top of the cliff that almost everyone had their marks already. It wasn't possible to tell whose had appeared that day and who had had there's already, but it seemed that most of them were still black, which meant that if they did know who their soulmate was, they had yet to make a move.

Courtney glanced around at the other campers, wondering who it could possibly be that had caused this fungus (because that's what she's decided it was) to grow on her chest. Not Katie or Sadie or Eva, obviously. Bridgette was still a possibility. Of the boys on her team, four of them were sporting marks. Tyler, Duncan Geoff and Harold if she remembered their names correctly. She prayed it was none of them.

The prospects on the other team were not much better though. Of the girls, Courtney could see that Gwen and Lindsay both had marks, and of the boys Trent and Cody were the only ones. Judging by only looks, Courtney was hoping Trent or Tyler would be the one who turned out to be her soulmate. Neither of them were exactly the kind of man she would picture herself with, but they were better than all the others.

Her thoughts were interrupted by some gross punk, saying something about ladies going first. If he thought there was any way she was jumping off this cliff, he had another think coming. Courtney cursed herself for letting herself get distracted. This soulmate thing was getting to her head and throwing her off her game already. She knew as soon as possible she had to find out who it was and get them eliminated. But until then she quickly sized up the other team (and this time _not _for potential soulmates) and quickly decided there was no way all of them were going to jump off the cliff.

She was wrong, unfortunately, and the Killer Bass lost the challenge. It _wasn't _her fault, she was adamant. And she needed to convince the rest of the team of that before it was too late.

_ Duncan, _that ogre, of course was trying to convince everyone to get rid of her. And he found the need to call her _princess _constantly. Was it possible that he was the most annoying human being she'd ever met? On the plus side, that probably meant he certainly wasn't her soulmate, so that narrowed down her search. That left the possibilities of Harold, Geoff, Tyler or Bridgette on her team. And she still had to convince them not to vote her off.

"So who would you pick?" Bridgette asked flatly. Okay this was it…

"What about… him?" she pointed at Tyler (the one she figured was the most likely candidate).

"No!" there was a shout from the other table. Lindsay was standing up looking stricken. She started mumbling something about there being no salt on the table, but Courtney wasn't fooled. Lindsay liked Tyler, which meant there was a strong possibility that she and Tyler were soulmates. After all, they both had marks. Courtney sighed. She was no closer to finding her soulmate or to convincing her team not to vote her off. That was until Ezekiel happened to make some extremely sexist remarks.

* * *

><p>Courtney thanked her lucky stars as a marshmallow was thrown her way at the campfire ceremony that night. She blamed her lack of concentration on the game for her near miss. No more thinking about soulmates. No more getting distracted. She'd eliminate every possible soulmate and then she wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.<p>

She walked back to the cabin with more determination than ever.

"It actually suits you, you know," a voice behind her laughed. She spun around and scowled when she saw who it was.

"Duncan!" she cursed, pulling the chicken hat from her head.

"Lighten up, princess, it's just a game," he grinned.

"Don't call me that," Courtney snapped.

"See you tomorrow," he winked and walked into his cabin. Courtney watched him go, feeling a sinking in her stomach, and all of a sudden Duncan was back in her list.

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><p><strong>Hey guys so I started another story. I cannot promise regular updates and if it isn't finished by March 15 there will be a 3 month hiatus. <strong>


	2. A Nightmare Dressed Like a Daydream

"So who do you think it is?" Geoff asked Duncan that night in the cabin.  
>"I dunno man," Duncan replied. "I don't care that much."<br>"Mine's Bridgette," Geoff sighed dreamily. "I'm sure of it."  
>"If you say so," Duncan chuckled.<br>"I can't wait to figure out who mine is," Harold informed them. "No one asked you, dorkwad," Duncan snorted. "You guys are so lucky," DJ said with a sigh. "I don't have my mark yet."  
>"Lucky?" Duncan repeated incredulously. "This thing is a curse," he said, gesturing to the winding lines on his chest. "How so?" DJ enquired.<br>"It's just this burden of a mark that some chick will eventually use an excuse as to why I can't leave her," he scoffed. "Who wants to be tied down like that?" he shook his head as he slipped into bed. "Maybe you're right," DJ considered Duncan's words.  
>"You're pathetic Duncan, true love could be just a cabin away and you're too afraid to reach for it," Harold said knowingly.<br>"If you don't shut up I'm going to shove my fist down your throat, got it?" Duncan threatened. Harold gulped, sliding under his covers and shutting his mouth in fear. "I dunno man, I reckon Harold could be right. My soulmate is waiting for me. I've just got to make her see me," Geoff said determinedly. "I'm pretty sure Lindsay's my soulmate," Tyler interjected.  
>"No one cares. Now go to sleep!" Duncan demanded. They turned out the lights and Duncan lay there in the dark, thinking about what Geoff and Harold had said. Sure, Duncan liked to talk big, but there was a part of him that really wanted to know who on the island was apparently his soulmate. He couldn't really remember which of the girls had had marks, but if Geoff and Tyler were right about theirs, that crossed out two of the hottest chicks on the island. He only wished he could pinpoint the exact moment the mark appeared. Why was there not some kind of burning or something to warn him it had appeared? His soulmate could be any of the girls. <em>Not Lindsay or Bridgette,<em> he thought. _That leaves, Katie, Sadie, Courtney, Eva, Heather, Leshawna, Gwen, Izzy and Beth_. As long as it wasn't Eva, he was pretty sure he'd be okay.

* * *

><p>After the Awake-a-thon Duncan thought he had narrowed it down even further. He crossed Gwen off his list, because he could see her cosying up to Trent. He also crossed off Katie and Sadie because it appeared they were each others soulmates, though they'd never kissed so their marks were still black. He also decided it couldn't be Eva or Beth because frankly they were just too ugly. Eva went home that night anyway, as it became apparent that she was freaking insane.<p>

* * *

><p>It was the day of their third challenge and Courtney had successfully managed to avoid elimination for the second time. However, she was still no closer to figuring out who her soulmate was. She had really wanted to get rid of one of the boys, to narrow down the risk, but with Eva's terrible temper it was unanimous that she had to go. <em>Note to self<em>, Courtney told herself, _do not lose your temper_.  
>She had still yet to make any alliances and with her team's numbers slowly dwindling she was losing hope fast. It didn't help that the rest of her team were totally useless. Duncan was the only one on her team who'd come close to winning the last challenge, and now he'd decided he would rather have a little nap than play today's challenge. <em>How is it people always seem to let you down when you need them the most?<em>

Things were going terrible. Tyler had finally managed to get someone out, only to then immediately go out himself and then completely disappear! Where was he anyway? And how was it that someone as idiotic as Owen happened to be so good at throwing balls?

"Hey! How does it feel to suck so much?" Heather yelled from her team's side of the court.  
>"Not very good…" Harold replied sadly.<br>"It's not over yet!" Courtney yelled back, faking a confidence she didn't feel. They were so going to lose. Unless she came up with a plan, and fast. She glanced at Duncan. He had warned them not to wake him. But as much as she loathed to admit it, he may be the only one who could help them win this challenge. She just needed to get the rest of the team to agree to it, and then get someone to wake him up (she sure as hell wasn't going to do it) (not that she was scared of him) (she just didn't want to touch him).  
>"We need someone strong. Someone mean! Someone who will crush those lame-o Gophers into the dirt!" Courtney declared. She hated that she had to say these things about Duncan, but after all they were actually true. Especially if the way the rest of her team looked at his sleeping form after she'd finished was any indication. She managed to convince them that they needed to wake him up, but no one wanted to actually be the one to do it. She sighed as she suggested her next idea.<p>

* * *

><p><em>Duncan took a sip from the fruity cocktail he had in his hand. The sun was beating down on his face and he closed his eyes beneath his sunglasses, soaking up the rays.. He had won the hundred thousand dollars and was relaxing by a pool, totally alone, far away from that godforsaken island and the ridiculous people. Just the way he liked it. But then there was someone walking towards him. Great, just when he thought everything was perfect, someone had to come along and ruin it. But then again, he thought as he lowered his sunglasses to get a better look, he wasn't going to complain about the sexy bikini clad figure that approached him. Even if it happened to be that bossy know it all princess, Courtney. Wait, Courtney? But she was so irritating! She was hot though… especially now as she came towards him with seduction in her eyes and her hips swayed and she licked her lips. Duncan sat up when Courtney reached him, pulling his sunglasses from his face and squinting up at her. <em>  
><em>"What are you doing here, princess?" he asked her.<em>  
><em>"I think you know," she whispered back, smirking at him. Duncan's heart pounded and his breath caught in his throat as she sank her knees onto the pool lounger, between his legs, and leant in and started… poking him?<em>

Poke, poke, poke. Duncan opened his eyes. He was half disappointed and half relieved that it had only been a dream, but he was one hundred per cent angry that someone had dared to wake him up. He snapped the stick that his so called team mates had woken him up with.  
>"You better have a really good reason for sticking this up my nose," Duncan said to Harold menacingly. He was the easiest target after all. But then the subject of his dreams barged in front of him, explaining that their team was losing and that they needed his help. Damn, why was this chick so hot? <em>Keep it cool<em>, Duncan, he told himself, _Don't let her know what she does to you._  
>"Oh, and why should I help you, darling?" he sneered. <em>Nailed it<em>.  
>"Because, I can personally guarantee you, that if we lose this game, <em>you'll<em> be the one going home. _Darling_," she replied snarkily, her face inches from his. God, that was hot. Wait, no it wasn't. It was stupid and annoying and he was pretty sure he'd do anything she wanted him to. No! Ugh, what the heck. Alright, how to agree to this without making it look like she had any power over him. He paused for a moment like he was thinking about it.  
>"Fine, I'll play," he said with a sigh. Courtney smiled, obviously pleased at her victory. <em>Stop doing that<em>, Duncan thought as his stomach flipped over. What was happening to him? "On one condition," he continued, trying to ignore the weird feelings he was having, "you do what I say, when I say it." Courtney nodded. Well that was surprisingly easy.  
>He began informing the team about what their strategy was going to be, and his sudden weird infatuation with Courtney seemed to leave him as he got his head in the game. Why was he dreaming about Courtney anyway? She was more like a nightmare, honestly. Although it was pretty hot how competitive she was, and he was impressed at how well she threw the ball.<p>

* * *

><p>As it turned out, waking up Duncan turned out to be an excellent idea. They thrashed the Gophers in the next game and Courtney actually began to enjoy herself. During the next game she noticed Heather disappear and when she came back again she had a tragic looking Lindsay with her. Immediately noticeable were the marks on Lindsay's chest which were no longer black, but glowing red. Tyler walked in only a few seconds later. Courtney narrowed her eyes. It was obvious to her where he had Lindsay had been, and if she was right, his chest would be glowing too.<br>She confronted him about it angrily, but she wasn't totally sure if she was annoyed at him because he'd been with Lindsay or because he had found his soulmate and she still hadn't. After all, she knew really that Lindsay wasn't clever enough to get Tyler to spill all their teams weaknesses to her. She was the dumbest girl on the planet.  
>Courtney shook off her weird insecurities and thought about the positives. They were now even with the Gophers and whoever won the next game would win the challenge. And wouldn't have to send someone home. And Courtney very much intended for that team to be her team. Of course Harold wanted to play, but he was the <em>worst<em>. He'd done enough damage by snoring all night and keeping everyone awake. But then all of a sudden, he was standing there alone and he was their only hope. Courtney could hardly bare to watch.  
>Somewhow, Harold managed to catch the ball and get Owen out. The Bass had won their first challenge, and Courtney knew it was all thanks to her. She was finally proving that she was an asset to the team, instead of just continuously saying it. And now they didn't have to send anyone home. The Bass walked back to their cabins and Courtney looked over to see Duncan staring at her. She nodded at him, silently thanking him for helping their team win. He nodded back, a troubled look in his eye, like he was trying to solve a difficult problem, before turning away and heading into his own cabin.<p>

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><p><strong>Hey thanks for reading this story! If you haven't figured it out, this story will for the most part be following canon, with the exception of the marks. There will be some twists and turns though so it doesn't get too predictable ;)<br>Hope you enjoyed, please let me know what you think!  
>Also if you follow me, you may have noticed I've started writing for The 100 fandom as well, and if you don't watch that show I strongly suggest you do because it's amazing.<strong>

**Love, Emily.**


	3. I Can't Take It, I Should Hate You

Courtney sat with her team on a wooden stump where the campfire ceremony usually took place. It was time for their fifth challenge and she was ready to go. Somehow they'd managed to win their second challenge, and she was on top of the world. She glanced at Harold as Chris talked, wondering if she'd underestimated him. He had helped them win two challenges in a row after all, and now she thought she may have been a little hasty in removing him from her list of potential soulmates. However, just as the thought crossed her mind she saw him pick his nose and she knew she'd been right all along. Harold was definitely not her soulmate.

She turned her attention back to Chris as he explained the days challenge. All they had to do was spend a night in the woods. That should be easy enough, Courtney was a CIT after all, she was practically an expert on the subject.

Chris threw a map and a compass to each team and somehow _Duncan _(who she had gone back to hating after she'd discovered his only talent was carving a picture of his own skull into a tree) (which didn't really count as a talent in her opinion anyway) managed to catch them mid-air, before she could do anything about it. She gave him a glare and was about to protest that she should be in charge of the map and compass since _she _was a CIT and his only qualification was that he was a qualified criminal, seeing as he had been to juvie. And that was _not _something to be proud of.

But Chris was still talking so Courtney didn't get the chance to complain. Instead she just snatched the map from the delinquent's hand aggressively. Duncan just rolled his eyes and folded his arms sulkily.

* * *

><p>When Chris told them they could go, Courtney began to lead her team expertly to their camp ground. Duncan, however, wasn't having any of it. There was no way he was putting his faith in <em>Courtney <em>being able to lead them there, so while Chris wasn't looking he swiped a spare map from Chris's back pocket. His own team had already taken off, but he knew he could catch up easily and just pretend he'd been there the whole time. After studying the map and figuring out where he had to go, he slipped the map back in Chris's pocket (the host hadn't even noticed it was missing) and caught up to the rest of the Bass. They seemed to be down two team members but since it was Katie and Sadie Duncan couldn't really see the problem.

"Where have you been?" Geoff asked him when he caught up.

"Making sure we win. Did I miss anything?" Duncan asked. "Anyone notice I was gone?"

"No," Geoff shook his head. "Courtney was too busy playing tour guide." Duncan scowled, weirdly annoyed that she hadn't even noticed he was missing. That just proved she wasn't observant enough to lead the team. The two boys walked in silence for a moment.

"Hey, Duncan?" Geoff asked.

"Mmm?" Duncan replied.

"You're like… experienced with girls and stuff, right?" Geoff asked.

"Well, yeah… I mean kinda," Duncan shrugged. He'd had a couple of girlfriends before he went to juvie, but there wasn't much opportunity for dating at an all boys prison facility.

"How can I get Bridgette to notice me?" Geoff enquired, looking a little hopeless.

"That's easy, bro," Duncan told him. "You've just got to compliment her."

"Like, tell her she looks pretty?" Geoff wondered.

"Nah, not with Bridgette. That would work on Lindsay probably but Bridgette is the kind of girl who wants to be complimented on her skills, not her looks," Duncan said wisely.

"Okay…" Geoff nodded nervously. Duncan sighed.

"Just, when we get there, tell her she'd really good at something," Duncan instructed. "Got it?"

"Got it," Geoff nodded again, more confidently this time. Duncan shook his head in amusement, wondering how the guy could be such a people person, yet so rubbish at talking to girls.

* * *

><p>The rest of the journey went off without so much as a hitch, and once they reached their camping spot Courtney got them all doing jobs. She was pleased to see everyone had accepted her as their leader without much complaining. It was obvious that she was the most competent one of the group. She'd given herself, Geoff and Bridgette the task of setting up the tent, Duncan and Harold were on fire duty, DJ was out looking for food, Tyler was seeing what supplies were in their pack, and Katie and Sadie were… nowhere to be found. Well, good riddance, those two girls we're almost as dumb as Lindsay.<p>

"Wow, you pitch a tent like a guy!" she overheard Geoff say to Bridgette as the three of them put the tent up. He had admiration in his voice but his words were less than flattering. It was clear Geoff was trying to flirt with Bridgette but his sexist remark made Courtney cringe and she knew Bridgette would in no way be flattered or impressed. It seemed to Courtney that Geoff thought he and Bridgette were soulmates, they both had marks after all. But if he kept up his awkward flirting style he'd never get the chance to find out.

"What's for dinner, woman?" came an amused voice from behind her. "I'm starving!" Courtney turned and scowled at Duncan. It was obvious he knew what he was saying was offensive to women, but his chest was puffed out and he had a cocky look on his face like he had just made the most hilarious joke of all time. Courtney didn't doubt that he was purposefully trying to antagonise her, but she wasn't going to let him get to her. She couldn't believe she'd thought for one second that this gross Neanderthal was a possibility for her soulmate.

"I hope you don't expect me to dignify that with a response," she said haughtily. Duncan just continued to look at her smugly. Ugh, what was it with that guy that made her want to slap him across the face? But at the same time he looked kind of hot with that smirk permanently plastered on his face, and his blue eyes staring at her like she was something he wanted to devour. She shivered involuntarily. She was spared the gruelling task of having to figure out what she was feeling by DJs voice coming across the clearing.

"Hey guys, look what I found!" he holds a rabbit out in front of him. It soon became apparent that he did not intend to kill and skin the rabbit to eat, but to keep it as a pet.

"You couldn't find any food?" Courtney asked in exasperation. It had been his only job after all. It seemed he couldn't even manage that. Just as she had thought, her entire team was useless. She sighed dramatically. "Then it looks like we're eating grubs and berries for dinner." The thought didn't appeal to her but it was better than nothing, right?

"Has anyone seen Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Idiot?" Duncan asked. Courtney forced herself not to smile at the words. She did _not _think Duncan was funny.

"Who cares?" she snorted instead. "We're better off without them anyway."

"I'm not gonna argue with that," Duncan said. Courtney looked at him suspiciously. Were they actually agreeing on something? "What?" Duncan asked, seeing her staring at him.

"Nothing," she shook her head. "Hurry up and finish building the fire."

* * *

><p>Duncan had witnessed Geoff's terrible attempt at flirting with Bridgette. How did he manage to screw up a compliment so bad? Duncan knew he had to help the guy out some more, so when the rest of the group were sitting around the fire, Duncan and Geoff went into the woods to "pee".<p>

"Dude, girls are so confusing!" Geoff complained.

"No, you're just an idiot," Duncan pointed out. Geoff looked sulky but he didn't argue. "Look, just leave her alone for a while and try again later when she's forgotten what an oaf you are."

"Do you have to be so mean about it?" Geoff whined.

"Tough love, my friend," Duncan chuckled. "Look, I have an idea," Duncan proposed. "I'll tell a scary story and then hopefully Bridgette will get scared and need someone to comfort her. AKA; you. She'll probably be running into your arms." Geoff nodded and the two headed back and sat with the others around the campfire.

Somewhere in the distance an owl hooted and Duncan felt Bridgette jump beside him. Pathetic. This was going to be so easy.

"Be cool, it's just an owl," DJ assured her.

"Sorry. I just get really freaked out in the forest," Bridgette admitted.

"This reminds of this really scary story I heard once," Duncan said casually. His plan was to help Geoff but he bet he could even scare Miss No-Nonsense Courtney. That would show her.

"Awesome! Tell it man!" Geoff encouraged. Duncan grinned at him.

"Are you sure? 'Cause the story I'm thinking of is pretty hardcore," Duncan said doubtfully. Across the fire he saw Courtney roll her eyes.

"Ooh, we're so scared!" she said sarcastically. Duncan smirked to himself. Now it would be so much better when he scared her out of her wits. She thought she was so tough, but he'd show her.

"Alright, but don't say I didn't warn you," he said nonchalantly. He grinned menacingly and began his story. He built to the climax of the story, getting really into it and adding dramatic pauses to create tension. He could tell the rest of his team were on the edge of their seats, hanging on his every word as he told them the story of the bloody hook. Everyone had looks of terror on their faces and he would have laughed out loud if he wasn't so committed to the story.

"They say… that this killer is still alive… wandering these very woods. He could be just about anywhere really… maybe even right… here!" he shouted the last word and pulled out a hook, sending the rest of his team into screams of horror. He burst into laughter at their reaction, unable to hold back any longer. They were all so gullible!

"Duncan! That was so NOT funny!" Courtney shouted, her voice still quivering slightly from the fright he'd given her. Duncan smiled smugly. He thought it was very funny actually and scaring Courtney was the best bit.

"Oh yes it was!" he chortled. "I just wish it was all on camera! Oh wait, it is!" He doubled over into fits of laughter again, so he missed Courtney shooting daggers at him.

"You are so vile!" Courtney spat. "Do your parents even like you?"

"I don't know, Jumpy McChicken! I haven't asked them lately," he said, not caring about her insults at all. He'd gotten to her and she couldn't deny it and he was having too much fun rubbing it in to be worried about her lame attempt at offending him. He was about to tell her how hilarious her face looked when he'd revealed the hook, but he was interrupted by a long howl of a wolf somewhere off in the night, and suddenly the girl he'd just been mocking was in his arms, her body shivering. Duncan didn't know if it was from the cold or from fear, but either way, he felt a strong urge to comfort her.

From across the fire he saw Geoff put his thumb up. Okay, so Duncan's plan had worked, but not on the girl he'd intended it to work on. But he wasn't exactly complaining, holding Courtney felt really nice. Of course, if any of the guys mentioned it he would just say he was trying to get into her pants. Duncan didn't have feelings, and definitely not towards spoilt type-A princesses.

* * *

><p>Okay, so it wasn't exactly her proudest moment, but she'd screamed when Duncan told his story. She was annoyed at him, but she was more annoyed at herself for falling for it. And now the dumb story had her on edge, even when she was cursing him and throwing insults at him. He didn't seem to care however.<p>

What was worse than her scream though, was the fact that she'd practically dived into his arms when she'd heard that wolf howl. _How embarrassing. _But the worst thing of all was that she liked being his in arms so much that she'd stayed there _a lot _longer than necessary. Her heart was pounding, and with each beat she felt her whole chest ache, like her heart wanted to burst out of her chest and attach itself to Duncan. She hoped that didn't mean what she thought it meant. She was sure Duncan could feel it, but she hoped he put it down to fear and adrenaline, rather than attraction. God, was it attraction? Is that why she was thinking about his strong arms and firm chest right now instead of whether or not she might be eaten alive by wolves?

Knowing she'd been in his arms longer than the time it would still have been believable to say it was just an unconscious reaction to a potential threat, she extricated herself from his grasp. She opened her mouth to say something, a witty remark, a cutting statement, but nothing came. Instead she just turned on her heel and strode quickly into the woods, claiming she had to pee.

_I don't like him, I don't like him, _she lectured herself. He was a juvenile delinquent, a stain on society. And she was going far in life in politics or law maybe. No, there was no way she was attracted to those vile piercings and haircut. And he most certainly was not her soulmate. It had to be someone else.

And yet, when she got back from her stroll in the woods and the others were in the tent, ready to sleep, she found herself laying down beside him, with the vague idea that he'd keep her safe if the wolves came, and maybe she could snuggle against him in the night for warmth. Her stomach lurched excitedly at the thought and she had to stifle a groan, hating herself for somehow developing this dumb crush.

She couldn't sleep, Duncan's story was still reeling in her mind, and the ground was too hard and she was cold. She glanced at Duncan. How was he asleep already? She cursed him under her breath. This challenge was going terribly. They'd had no food, Katie and Sadie were missing and now sleep seemed miles away. They were so going to lose this challenge.

She heard a whispered conversation between Bridgette and DJ, followed by Bridgette exiting the tent. The next thing she knew, the tent was burnt to a crisp around them. Well, that would make it easier to sleep. Not.

"Great," Courtney seethed. "That's just great Bridgette. Now we have nowhere to sleep!" she screamed at the girl. Maybe she was being harsh, but honestly how clumsy could one girl be? If she'd thought things were bad before, it was nothing compared to now.

"Yo, Drama Queen, relax. It's cool," Duncan assured her. Or at least tried to. She was far from being reassured. How could he be so relaxed at a time like this? Did he never worry about anything? It was infuriating.

"Cool?" Courtney snapped. "It's COOL? Things could not possibly get worse!" she shouted at him. She knew it wasn't his fault but he was the easiest target, plus it helped her to hate him and forget that brief attraction she'd felt before. Only, it turned out things could get worse, because at that very moment the heavens opened and it began to pour. Duncan looked smug, which honestly was bewildering to Courtney. Did he like being soaking wet? She shrieked in frustration, knowing this was going to be the worst night of her life.

* * *

><p>It was morning, Duncan was sure of that from the birds he could hear singing. It had stopped raining sometime during the night and they'd all fallen asleep. There was a warm comforting pressure on his chest, the curvaceous figure of a woman curled against him, her legs entwined with his and her hand absentmindedly stroking his chest. Was he still dreaming?<p>

He opened an eye cautiously and his heart stopped for a second when he saw who it was who was cuddled up to him. Shit. He was finding it harder and harder to lie to himself and keep pretending he wasn't more than a little attracted to her. She was gorgeous and she was dominant and feisty. It was sexy, he had to admit. He wondered if he kissed her if maybe the lines on his chest would turn to colour.

_Shut up Duncan, _he told himself. Thoughts like that were not welcome in his head. He didn't want her and he didn't need her and soulmates were for nerds like Harold.

"Morning, Sunshine,' he said tauntingly as Courtney opened her eyes. He wasn't sure it he was teasing her because he was trying to keep her away, or because he just like to tease girls he liked. _You don't like her, _he scolded himself. He leered at her as she gasped and sat up.

"Ohmygod. Ew!" she said in dismay. "You were cuddling me!" she was up and away from him as fast as humanly possible. Duncan did his best not to scowl at her reaction. Actually it was kind of funny. That was the second time she'd ended up in his arms in the last 12 hours, and now she was trying to act like she didn't like it? Pfft, she was so hot for him. And it was now his number one mission to get her to admit it. Not because he liked her back or anything. But because it was embarrassing for her.

"_I _was calmly lying on my back and trying to catch a few z's," he pointed out in amusement. "_You _were snuggling up to me," he grinned. Courtney's face was priceless.

"You are such an ogre!" she retorted.

"I've been called worse," Duncan shrugged and laid back down. She hadn't admitted her mortal attraction for him, but she had been unable to deny that she was snuggling up to him, and that was enough for now. Duncan considered it a victory. He chuckled to himself as Courtney made a cry of frustration and stormed away. Yep, she so wanted him.

* * *

><p>"Let's go already, so we can make it back before the Gophers!" Courtney demanded as the rest of her team slowly woke from their slumber. It was late enough already! Plus she needed something to forget to burning embarrassment of being caught cuddling up to Duncan. It was cold, okay? And he was nice and warm and comfortable. It was nothing more than that. She had been planning to wake up earlier so that he'd never know, but unfortunately she'd been able to sleep <em>too <em>well and he'd caught her out.

But the rest of the world could know that so as soon as they were back at camp she made sure to let everyone know via confessional that she had been ASLEEP and therefore it meant nothing and essentially it was like it never happened. If only she could forget about it so easily herself.

They were the first team back, but their victory was short lived when Chris pointed out that they had team members missing.

"Oh, you mean Katie and Sadie?" Courtney asked innocently. "I'm pretty sure they got eaten by wolves last night." That was believable, right? In any case, Courtney was past caring.

"Darn shame," Duncan shook his head in agreement. Courtney tried not to act surprised that he was backing her up, even after all the names she'd called him. She supposed he just wanted to win as much as she did. She was still so mad at him though. But Katie and Sadie had not been eaten by wolves (much to Courtney's chagrin) and they raced into camp only a moment later. They were so going to get it.

"Have you two finished your little love-fest?" Courtney asked sweetly, interrupting the hugging girls. "Good. Because thanks to you we just LOST THE CHALLENGE!" Courtney cried. She needed them to know it was _their _fault they'd lost and that was why one of them was as good as gone.

The campfire ceremony was uneventful as everyone had agreed that Katie was going home. The girls were as useless and annoying as each other so they just decided to go in alphabetical order.

After Katie had been ferried away on the boat of losers, Courtney made her way to the step of her cabin, trying to collect her thoughts, which were mainly filled with Duncan. How was it possible to hate him so much and yet at the same time he was constantly in her thoughts, wondering if he could be the one to make the lines on her chest light up. But she knew that path led only to madness and it wasn't going to win her the competition.

As if he were called to her by her thoughts, Duncan appeared from the darkness and sat by her on the step. Her stomach dropped when she saw him walking towards her. She glared at him as he sat down.

"Ugh, what do you want now?" she said in annoyance.

"I just wanted to say that, I'm sorry I scared you," Duncan said, a little unconvincingly.

"I was not scared!" Courtney denied. "It was completely circumstantial." She was glad that he thought she was mad because he scared her, but she still had to prove to him that she hadn't been scared at all. She wasn't afraid of anything, after all. "And there is no such thing as a hook man!" she scoffed.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Duncan agreed indifferently. "Or are you?!" he bellowed, pulling a hook out. Courtney shrieked at the top of her lungs. Annoyed at herself for falling for it, and for him for tricking her again, she groaned in frustration and stood up.

"I hate you!" she declared. She stalked off back to the campfire and Duncan smirked to himself.

"She so doesn't hate me," he snickered. And he would have her admit it before this competition was through.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, hope you liked this chapter! Title comes from the song Disgusting by KeshaMiranda Cosgrove! (Last chapter's title was pretty obvious I don't think I need to explain that haha). Writing this makes me realise how much I miss sesaon 1 Duncney, they were so cute :(**

**Anyway, let me know what you thought!**


	4. You'll Never Know if You Can Fly

Duncan followed Courtney back to the campfire, much to her obvious annoyance. He didn't say anything to her, however, and she was left to her own thoughts, wondering what the next challenge would be and what her strategy for the rest of the game would be, since she'd still been unsuccessful in forming any alliances. It was lucky her team were too stupid to vote strategically and were easily persuaded to vote off Katie, their weakest player.

The team stared into the fire in silence for what felt like an eternity, until Bridgette returned from the dock with a bawling Sadie, who was carrying a plank of wood for some unknown reason. It seemed Sadie wasn't taking Katie's departure too well.

"It was a long goodbye," Bridgette said by way of explanation as she sat down next to Courtney.

The sound of footsteps caused the Killer Bass to look up and see the Gophers approaching. The group stopped by the fire, looking smug and Courtney stood up to face them.

"What do you guys want?" she asked snarkily. She wasn't in the mood to play nice with the enemy. "Come by to rub it in?"

"We got some extra dessert after our tuckshop party," Trent grinned, "thought you might want some," he offered. Beth held out some kind of dessert that looked suspicious at best.

"So what, you're just being _nice_?" Courtney scoffed doubtfully. She was sure the Gophers had some kind of ruse up their sleeve, and whether it was a harmless prank or a more sinister plot, Courtney was not going to fall for it.

"Okay, Owen stunk up out cabin and we need some time to air out," Gwen admitted. Okay, not as devious as Courtney had originally thought, but not exactly altruistic either. Beth walked up to Courtney with holding their peace offering.

Courtney shrieked when she realised what it was. Green jelly. She hated green jelly even more than she hated Duncan's green Mohawk. But, she knew everyone would think it was super weird to be freaked out by _jelly _(as everyone at her school had thought last year when she'd gone home crying after a food fight incident in the cafeteria) so she quickly covered her reaction with a fake smile.

"I mean… no thanks," she said nervously, hoping no one thought anything of her outburst.

"What, are you on a diet or something?" Duncan asked. Courtney groaned inwardly. _Of course _Duncan would have to push the subject. Didn't he know when to shut up?

"No! I just don't like green jelly, okay?" she snapped. Duncan frowned at her overreaction but Courtney just folded her arms haughtily to let him know the conversation was over. Thankfully, Beth left her alone and made her way over to DJ. Duncan, ignoring Courtney's obvious wish to change the subject, opened his mouth to ask her _why _she didn't like green jelly, but was stopped (to Courtney's relief) by a high pitched squeal being emitted from DJ's mouth.

"Snaaaaaake!" he cried, hitting the jelly from Beth's hands and across the campfire where it landed at Cody's feet. The short boy picked it up with a grin.

"Chill dude," Cody said reassuringly, "it's just a gummy worm!"

"Sorry for trippin'," DJ hung his head in shame, "snakes just freak me out." Tyler placed a reassuring hand on DJ's back.

"I feel you," he said. "Chickens give me the creeps dude," he confessed.

"You're afraid of chickens?" Gwen said incredulously, clearly judging Tyler's weird phobia. Duncan snickered in agreement. Courtney was oddly glad she'd said nothing about the jelly thing.

"Wow, that's… that's really lame, man," he mocked.

"No, you know what?" Beth interjected, sticking up for Tyler. "I'm totally afraid of being covered in bugs. It's my mortal fear. I think it started when I was eight, and my Mom left me outside playing by the apple tree. There was this big gust of wind and then out of nowhere all of these gross bugs were covering me. I had nightmares for weeks! My mom said-," Beth went on until Heather interrupted her.

"That's enough!" she snapped and Beth fell quiet. "I think we all know that most terrifying thing in the world is sumo wrestlers!" Heather said. Someone went to laugh but turned it into a cough when they saw Heather's death stare.

"Nuh-uh," Harold disagreed. "Ninjas are way scarier than sumo wrestlers!" Courtney rolled her eyes. Everyone here was a bunch of babies! As the rest of the group began to tell their worst fears, Courtney listened intently, all the while thinking how glad she was that she didn't have any fears. Especially not ones as stupid as the rest of the people on the island.

"I'm not really afraid of anything," she said smugly.

"Bologna," Duncan coughed under his breath, though not very subtly. He smirked at Courtney, and she knew he was just doing it to get a rise out of her, but she'd be damned if she let him get to her. She turned on him, giving him a look of disgust.

"Oh really? Well, what exactly is your phobia, Mr. Know-It-All?" Courtney challenged. Her words had the desired effect as Duncan immediately wiped that smug grin from his face and looked slightly nervous. The group stared at him expectantly. It was Courtney's turn to look smug now as Duncan gulped, clearly not wanting to reveal whatever embarrassing phobia he had. But eventually he surrendered and stammered out the thing no one expected to hear.

"Celine Dion music store standees," he admitted in defeat.

"Ah, ex-squeeze me?" Cody laughed, "I didn't quite get that!"

"Dude, did you say Celine Dion music store standees?" Trent said with a hint of mockery. Duncan covered his face with his hands in embarrassment. Courtney was having the time of her life. After what Duncan had done to her last night (and tonight as well), it was nice to see him squirm.

"Ooh, I love Celine Dion!" Lindsay squealed. "What's a standee?" Courtney rolled her eyes at the blonde's newest idiotic comment.

"You know, that cardboard cut out thing that stands in the music store," Trent explained.

"Don't say it dude!" Duncan scolded Trent.

"Kinda like a lifesize but flat Celine," Trent continued, ignoring Duncan's discomfort. Courtney had never been happier to hear Trent talk.

"So if we had a cardboard standee right now…" she said teasingly, smirking at Duncan.

"Shut up!" he covered his ears as Courtney smiled to herself. At least now she knew his weakness. She was definitely going to use this to her advantage. She finally had the upper hand in this relationship. If it could even be called a relationship, since all it involved was Duncan being as annoying as possible and Courtney hating him.

"What about you guys?" Duncan quickly blurted, trying to get the attention away from his Celine phobia.

"Okay, well, I hate mimes," Trent shrugged nonchalantly, not embarrassed by his fear at all, "Like a lot." Courtney rolled her eyes. He should be embarrassed by it, it was ridiculous. "Alright, Courtney, you're afraid of something!" Trent accused, seeing her disdainful look. "Spit it out."

Courtney considered for half a second saying she was scared of green jelly, but thought better of it. After all, it wasn't really a _phobia_, she just… didn't like it. She wasn't actually like… _afraid _of it. Or so she told herself.

"Nope! Nothing," she said proudly.

"That's not what she said last night," Duncan snickered to Geoff and DJ. Courtney fumed on the inside but managed to keep her cool.

"Duncan, did you ever consider that maybe I was just humouring you and your stupid story?" she said haughtily.

"Sure, sure, Princess. Whatever floats your boat," Duncan said, clearly not believing a word she said. Courtney seethed at his words. Princess? That nickname was really starting to get on her last nerve. What right did he have? She would have no more of his insolent attitude.

"Shut up!" she snapped. She immediately regretted her outburst, but she vowed not to let her temper get the better of her again. Look at what happened to Eva. The worst part was, she'd somehow already lost the upper hand she'd thought she had only a few minutes ago. What was it about this guy that made her blood boil and her skin burn?

* * *

><p>Courtney and Bridgette had to put up with Sadie's incessant crying all night that night. It was pathetic really. How could one person be so attached to another person that being without them for even a few hours sent them into despair. Even if they were your soulmate. It just further proved to Courtney that dependency on other people made you weak.<p>

She traced over the lines on her chest lightly. She couldn't really feel them, but she knew they were there, taunting her. And though she'd been able to forget about them for a few hours, it was always there in the back of her mind. _Someone _on this island could have the power to make her feel something, if she let them.

But she couldn't let them. She knew the moment she let her guard down would be the moment she would be destroyed. The whole soulmate thing was just a fantasy anyway. Just because someone was your soulmate didn't guarantee that they were always going to be there for you. Her own parents proved that.

She sighed as she closed her eyes, trying to shut out Sadie's sobs as she drifted off to sleep.

* * *

><p>Duncan knew he'd regret telling everyone about his fear of Celine Dion music store standees, he just didn't know he'd regret it <em>this <em>much. Of course Chris, that sadist, would create a challenge out of making them face their mortal fears. At least he didn't have to go first.

Everyone walked outside the mess hall to find a blow up pool full of worms.

"Oh my god that is so gross," Courtney screwed up her nose when she saw it, her hand gripping onto Duncan's arm. _So much for not being afraid of anything_, he thought to himself. He ignored her though, annoyed at her for making fun of him last night, although he had had the last laugh.

He focused his attention on the pool, or at least he tried to. Courtney had yet to let go of his arm and he could feel the heat from her palm causing the skin under her hand tingle, even through his shirt. He thought about pointing out to her that she was still touching him, so _obviously _she must like him. But somehow it meant more to him to have her hand there than to try and achieve his goal of getting her to admit she liked him.

Beth completed her challenge with surprising ease for someone who was supposedly deathly afraid of being covered by bugs. It seemed even Owen was more disturbed by the bugs than Beth was and Duncan scowled to himself, thinking the other team was already cheating somehow.

* * *

><p>Things were going terribly for the Bass, as per usual it seemed. They had yet to score a single point and DJ was shivering in his boots just <em>looking <em>at a tiny snake. The rest of the team was shouting encouragement to him, but Courtney was just feeling desperate. They _could not_ afford to lose again today.

"It's the smallest snake ever, DJ!" she called to him impatiently. "Come on!"

"Yeah, but it's slimy and scaly…" DJ whined. "And slithery!" he cried.

"We need this point, DJ!" Courtney yelled unsympathetically. "Suck it up!" Her remarks received a collective head shake from the rest of her team. "What?" she snapped. "We're heading back to Loserville people," she said defensively.

Courtney stared DJ down as he finally took a deep breath and approached the snake. The team cheered as the big guy defeated his fear and held the snake on his finger.

"See?" Courtney said primly. "Fear is only in the mind."

* * *

><p>Duncan stared at the standee. It was finally his turn to face his fear and he was not happy about it. Why did everyone have to watch? Didn't they have something better to do?<p>

"I can't do it," Duncan muttered, staring at the standee. He saw Courtney stand up and got ready for a verbal beat down like she'd given DJ. DJ may have taken it from her, but there was no way Duncan was going to let her boss him around. But to his surprise she just walked up and stood next to him.

"It's alright Duncan," she said kindly. "Look, she's pretty. She's nice!" she gestured to the standee. Duncan was all of a sudden not sure if he was more scared of the standee or of Courtney actually being nice to him. She was just playing him so he'd help win the challenge, right? Like that time with the dodgeball? And even though he knew it was just an act, something about Courtney being close to him made his heart do backflips.

"That looks really… real man," Duncan said nervously. He stared at Celine Dion. Celine stared back. Nope, the standee was definitely more terrifying than Courtney. She was so flat! And staring. Like she could see into his soul. Duncan shivered.

"Dude, she's made of cardboard!" Tyler yelled. "Get in the game!" Duncan grimaced. He knew they needed this point if they had any hope of winning. But that didn't make it easier.

"Hey," Courtney whispered. "It's okay if you can't do it," she smiled sweetly. Duncan's heart lurched. What was this girl doing to him? He glanced at the Celine standee and took a deep breath. Some part of him wanted to hug the fake Celine even if just to show Courtney that he could. He felt a warm, soft hand slip into his and he glanced down in shock.

"Alright, I'll try," he said with a shaky smile, somehow gaining some newfound courage. Not that Courtney's gesture meant anything to him. It didn't make his knees weak and it certainly didn't make him want to kiss her. Courtney smiled back at him.

"You can do this," she said encouragingly.

"Okay, okay," he breathed. He took a run up and barged at the standee, throwing his arms around her, closing his eyes and imagining it was Courtney and not Celine Dion. Although he knew from experience that the real Courtney was a lot nicer to hold than a piece of cardboard. The team cheered and Duncan turned to Courtney with a look of pride on his face. She was impressed right? She was cheering with the rest of them.

She ran up to him and threw her arms around him and Duncan felt his heart swell. The rest of the team approached and Courtney dropped her arms hurriedly. Duncan felt a little disappointed but he was still on a high from his victory. And he wasn't talking about getting over his fear of Celine Dion.

* * *

><p>Tyler was the last person on their team to face his fear. All he had to do was sit in the pen with the chickens for three minutes. So why was he freaking out so much? They were just chickens.<p>

"Tyler, this is the last challenge! Quit being such a baby!" Courtney screeched at him. "You have to do this, or we're going to lose!"

"Actually," Cody interjected, tapping on a calculator he'd pulled from god knows where, "if you do the math, you can't possibly win. The score's seven to three," he said gleefully.

"Not necessarily," Chris said mischievously, "we've got one more challenge said up," he chuckled?  
>"Who?" Courtney demanded in confusion. He couldn't possibly mean her could he? "It can't be me," she continued. "But I didn't…" she trailed off. She hadn't said anything about the green jelly right? So they didn't know. She hoped.<p>

"You didn't have to!" Chris grinned. "We're always watching you and your reactions," he wiggled his eyebrows. Courtney's heart dropped. So they'd noticed her reaction to the jelly after all.

"I knew it!" Lindsay cried. "Didn't I tell you they were eavesdropping?" she said in outrage.

"Oh who cares?" Courtney said dejectedly. "It's not going to make a difference." It was then that Chris announced he would give triple points to Courtney if she could complete the challenge. Everyone on the island gathered around a wooden pool filled with green jelly, where a diving board stood, ready and waiting for Courtney.

Courtney stared up at the diving board in despair. It was bad enough she had to touch the jelly at all, let alone _dive into it_. This seemed beyond unfair. Everyone else had totally easy challenges!

"You're afraid of green jelly?" Duncan asked in amusement.

"Shut up!" Courtney snapped. How could he be so cruel when just half an hour ago she was helping him face his fear (his totally ridiculous fear) of Celine Dion music store standees? Her fear was nowhere near as stupid as that! And yet somehow she felt the need to justify herself. "Only the green kind! It's like… sugary… jiggly… snot!" she cried desperately. Just thinking about it made her sick to her stomach. And there was Duncan looking at her with a bemused expression on his face like he had just won whatever nonsensical game they were playing. And they were playing a game weren't they? Courtney had thought she was winning for a moment there, when she'd slipped her hand into Duncan's and felt his pulse quicken. But now, she wasn't even sure what the object of the game was, let alone whether or not she was in the lead.

She sighed dramatically before making her way up the ladder, complaining the whole time, though she knew there was no point. Chris would never back down, and if she didn't do it, her team would lose again, and it would be her fault. And she didn't know if she could convince them not to vote her out again.

"That is just cruel! It's probably warm by now," Courtney heard Gwen say to her team. "Warm, green jelly. Snotty, bouncy… eugh!" Gwen shuddered. Gwen was now officially Courtney's least favourite person on the island, other than Chris of course.

"You're not going to make me quit!" Courtney yelled down defiantly. Gwen could try and play mind games with her all she wanted. She was not going to lose this challenge.

"That's it, keep climbing!" Duncan called up to her. Courtney almost lost her footing at hearing Duncan's encouraging voice. Was he mocking her or was he being genuine for once?

"She's just trying to psych you out!" Bridgette yelled. Well, Courtney already knew that but it was nice to have her teams support. If she got through this challenge maybe Bridgette wouldn't make a bad alliance member. They could team up with Sadie and take down the boys.

"Like you said Courtney, it's okay if you can't do it!" Duncan repeated her own words back to her. She appreciated the sentiment but she wasn't an idiot. If she failed this challenge she was a goner.

"It is? But we'll lose!" Courtney heard Bridgette say to Duncan. So much for being a supportive team member.

Courtney finally reached the top of the platform and stared down into the wobbly chartreuse coloured jelly in dread. She had never felt such an overwhelming feeling of anxiety. If she jumped into this jelly it would get in her hair and her eyes and her clothes and her shoes and between her toes. She imagined the squelchy feeling and the horrible stickiness that would cover her body. She covered her face with her hands.

"I can't do it!" she sobbed. "I'm coming down!" she called. She knew she was totally pathetic. But she just could not bring herself to dive into that vat of gross jelly. She knew her team was disappointed. But what did it matter now anyway? They could just send her home, they'd all agree on it. It was her fault they'd lost and she deserved to go, though she never thought she'd hear herself say it.

She couldn't face her team, she was too embarrassed. She slunk away to the confessional where she intended to justify herself to the world, but instead she found herself bursting into tears and crying about how weak she was. She knew she had to get it together, this wasn't the person she knew she really was. There was still hope. She could still try to form the alliance with Bridgette and Sadie. And maybe… no, Duncan would never go for it. Whatever fleeting moment they'd had today was over the second she stepped off the ladder.

Courtney dried her eyes and ran off to find Bridgette and Sadie.

"Bridgette, Sadie," Courtney said, finding the girls in the cabin. "I have a proposition to make," she announced.

"Yeah?" Bridgette asked.

"What if the three of us formed an alliance and tried to get rid of the boys? Tyler first, obviously," Courtney proposed. Bridgette and Sadie glanced at each other.

"Look, Courtney…" Bridgette says kindly, "we feel bad, but you lost us the challenge today. That means it's your turn to go."

"The way you voted out Katie when we got lost," Sadie nodded. Courtney looked at the girls pleadingly and tried to reason with them, but it seemed their minds were made up. Courtney sighed and decided to leave them alone. She knew they we're right, and it's not like they owed her anything. She'd never tried to be friends with either of them.

* * *

><p>Courtney knew it was coming. She looked at Tyler nervously. They were the only two without marshmallows. Though she was 99% certain she was leaving tonight on the boat of losers, she thought maybe there was a 1% chance the girls had reconsidered her offer.<p>

"The final marshmallow of the night goes to…" Chris paused for dramatic effect. "Courtney!"

Courtney looked up in surprise. Was this real life? She caught the marshmallow Chris threw to her with glee. She lived another day! The girls must have thought better of voting her out after all.

"You'll get that chicken next time, dude," Duncan grinned at Tyler, patting him on the shoulder. He winked at Courtney as Tyler stood up and made his way to the dock of shame. Courtney gave Duncan a quizzical look, but he had already looked away. What did that wink mean? Had he had something to do with Tyler's elimination? Or did he just think he was super funny as usual? She soon got her answer as they all started making chicken jokes.

"Okay, that's enough!" she ordered, standing up. She was annoyed at herself for letting herself think for a moment that Duncan cared enough about her to convince the rest of the team to vote for Tyler. But _someone _must have. She glanced over at him only to find him staring at her. He quickly looked away, but she was certain he was looking at her. She sighed to herself, wondering when she would stop feeling so confused.

* * *

><p><strong>Hey guys, (if anyone is actually reading this story lol) I'm sorry but I think this might be the last chapter before I go overseas, which means there won't be another chapter for three months. Sorry for the inconvenience. <strong>


	5. Eternal Game of Tug and War

Duncan didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt at blackmailing the rest of his team to vote out Tyler. Not that it was very hard. He told Harold he'd tell the rest of the camp he wet the bed, he told DJ he'd kill his pet rabbit and he told Geoff he'd ruin his chances with Bridgette if they didn't vote for Tyler.

He knew they suspected his reasons were about Courtney but he didn't really give a shit what they thought. They _were _to do with Courtney. He still hadn't achieved his goal of getting Courtney to admit she had the hots for him, and he couldn't let her go home before that. That was the only reason. He ignored the memory of Courtney's hand slipping into his and the way his heart soared when she threw her arms around him.

Alright, well maybe he cared a little what his teammates thought. He couldn't let them think he'd gone soft or something because he had a crush on a girl. Because he _didn't _have a crush. He thought she was hot, that was all. And he was nice and encouraging during the challenge because he wanted to win.

He decided he needed to spend the day away from Courtney, and the challenge that Chris had set for them made that easy. On any other day he would have snagged Courtney has his canoe partner right away, if only for the thrill of antagonising her the whole way (it was so easy, and so fun), but today he quickly grabbed Sadie and Harold, the two people least likely to grill him about his feelings for a certain brunette.

He glanced behind him as he led Sadie and Harold to a canoe, only to see Geoff make a total idiot of himself with Bridgette once again. He rolled his eyes. Geoff was so beyond Duncan's help, the guy was a disaster when it came to women. Duncan had tried to give Geoff some advice last night, but obviously it hadn't worked.

"Duncan, I think I'm starting to get somewhere with Bridgette," Geoff had said to him after the campfire ceremony that night. "I need your help though, what can I do to take it to the next level dude?" Duncan thought about it for a moment.

"You should get her a present," Duncan told Geoff.

"A present?" Geoff repeated musingly. "But what can I get her while we're on this island? There's not exactly a lot of stores around man."

"You'll have to make something. A bunch of flowers or a carving of your own skull or something," he shrugged.

"Is that what you'd do for Courtney?" Geoff asked. Duncan glared at Geoff menacingly.

"I wouldn't do anything for Courtney because I don't like her," he growled.

"Oh come on man, but she's your soulmate!" Geoff prodded.

"You don't know that," Duncan said gruffly. Just because he himself had considered it a few times didn't mean it was true. There were plenty of girls on this island that it could be.

"Who else could it be?" Geoff asked. Duncan shrugged and stood up to go back to the cabin.

"Fucked if I know, but if it's Courtney, I'll kill myself," he scowled and left Geoff sitting by the campfire.

But obviously if Geoff had taken the advice, Bridgette hadn't exactly liked the gift because she was clearly avoiding Geoff on purpose. Duncan quickly turned his attention back to the canoe when he accidentally locked eyes with Courtney as she came down to the beach. He handed Harold and Sadie the oars.

"You guys can paddle," he declared.

"But-," Harold started to protest.

"You got a problem with that, Dorkwad?" Duncan said threateningly, grabbing the front of Harold's shirt. Harold shook his hear quickly, shaking in fear. This was too easy.

Ten minutes later, Duncan was already regretting his choice of canoeing buddies.

"You know, when I went on Paddling Steve's canoe camp, he told us that the best way to paddle is if you turn your oar slightly- oof," Harold was cut off as Duncan punched him in the stomach.

"Oh my god Harold, that is just like the time Katie and I went to a camping store because our dad's were going there and we got totally lost in the canoeing section and-," Sadie gushed.

"Would you two shut up?" Duncan growled.

"Gosh Duncan, you're so boring," Harold sniffed.

"Totally. Why did you even pick us for your partners if you were just going to be so mean?" Sadie agreed. Duncan was silent.

"It's because he's afraid he's getting feelings," Harold said knowingly.

"One more word and you'll be swimming to shore, got it?" Duncan snapped. Harold nodded meekly. They were silent for the rest of the trip.

* * *

><p>Courtney was relieved Bridgette had asked her to be her partner. Surely that meant Bridgette had rethought voting Courtney off last night and convinced Sadie and one of the boys to vote with her. That meant Duncan's wink was just some creepy innuendo that she hadn't understood at the time.<p>

And now Bridgette was telling her all about her problems with Geoff and how he'd given Bridgette a heart-shaped clay bowl with a picture and inscription. It was pretty creepy, she had to admit.

"I know he thinks we're soulmates, but I'm really not so sure," Bridgette admitted. "I've really enjoyed hanging out with him lately… but I don't know, the idea of being meant specifically for one person kind of freaks me out." Courtney could relate to that.

Did this mean Bridgette considered her a friend? Could this be the alliance she had been dreaming of since day one? Bridgette was, after all, the sanest one on the team. And the girls had to stick together. Bridgette could manipulate Geoff into voting however she wanted him to, if his crush on her was as enormous as the present he'd given her suggested. If they could convince Sadie to join the alliance as well, they could easily eliminate all the boys and make it to the final three together. Courtney glanced over to Sadie's canoe, where she could see her paddling with Harold, Duncan sitting in the middle doing nothing at all.

"Typical," she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Bridgette asked.

"Oh, nothing. What were you saying?" Courtney replied.

"I was just saying that I heard rumours that just because your soulmate is someone, doesn't mean you're their soulmate," Bridgette shrugged. "Like just because your mark lights up when you kiss, doesn't mean theirs will too."

"I've never heard that before," Courtney replied. "I doubt it's true. I do know that some people ignore it though. My parents were soulmates but they split up anyway. Sometimes love isn't enough," Courtney sighed. She'd never really told anyone that story before and she realised she really did think of Bridgette as a friend now.

"You're probably right," Bridgette said. She glanced over at Geoff and DJ's canoe. "Still doesn't mean Geoff and I are soulmates."

* * *

><p>Once they reached the island Courtney did her best to help Bridgette avoid Geoff, while she herself tried to avoid Duncan. Avoiding Duncan was somehow much easier than usual, because he didn't seem to be trying to annoy her at all. It was odd she thought, and she almost missed it for a moment before snapping out if it.<p>

Avoiding Geoff was harder. He kept looking behind and grinning at Bridgette, who was looking anywhere but him. When she happened to agree with him on what direction they should take he seemed to instantly brighten, only to have Bridgette snap at him. The poor guy had it bad, but he was coming on way too strong and Bridgette was not ready for it.

The group seemed to be making good headway, they had a good lead on the Gophers, until disaster struck and Geoff went down with a horrible splinter. Courtney rolled her eyes as Bridgette rushed to Geoff's side. What was her deal anyway? Did she like him or not?

"Go on without me!" he cried as he lay on the ground. Courtney was about to do as he said, figuring that if they tried to help him they'd lose their lead, but DJ insisted that they couldn't leave him. DJ and Harold hoisted him above their heads on Geoff and DJ's canoe and carried him to the other side of the island.

Courtney's mouth fell open when she saw that the Gophers had beaten them there and were already building their fire.

"Come on guys, we have to build this fire! Quick, everybody find some firewood!" Courtney ordered. The rest of the team hurried off to do her bidding. She quickly scooped up some kindling and began trying to light the fire by rubbing two sticks together.

"This isn't working!" she cried angrily. She felt a shadow hover over her and she looked up to see Duncan blocking the sun. She smiled at him, strangely glad to see him after not speaking to him all day. She then remembered she was supposed to hate him and turned her smile into a frown. "Are you going to help or what?" she snapped.

"That was the plan," he drawled, pulling out his cigarette lighter. Courtney grabbed it from him gratefully, ignoring his usual smug look and flicked it onto the pile of sticks she had built, and they caught alight instantly. She handed the lighter back to him, blowing on the small flame to make the flames grow quicker. She then hurried off the help the rest of the team get more firewood. Their team was in the lead again and she couldn't be happier.

"I don't think this is going to be big enough," she mused as she eyed the fire. Everyone rushed off to get more wood, but Harold, the total imbecile, grabbed the oars and threw them on the fire. A minute later the island seemed to explode after Izzy threw god knows what on her team's fire.

"Great, just great," Courtney muttered, glaring at Harold.

The campers made their way back to the canoes and as the Gophers paddled away, the Bass were left staring hopelessly at their canoes, until Izzy gave them the idea to have someone push the canoes back. Luckily DJ stepped up to the plate despite his fear of water, and the Bass won the challenge.

* * *

><p>Courtney primped in the make shift mirror they'd set up in the girls bedroom, reapplying the lipstick that had worn off during the day, despite the fact that she'd probably go to bed soon anyway. But with all the cameras around she couldn't risk looking bad at any moment. She heard a crash behind her and she looked around to see Bridgette picking up the pieces of the gift Geoff had given her.<p>

"Do you have any glue?" Bridgette asked.

"I wouldn't waste my time trying to fix _that_," Courtney sneered. Hadn't Bridgette been complaining about it only a few hours ago? It was a terrible and creepy present and Courtney could not for the life of her work out why Bridgette would want to keep such a thing.

"Maybe I would…" she heard Bridgette murmur. Courtney glanced at her new friend, taking in the small smile on the blonde's face and the blush that tinged her cheeks when she caught Courtney staring at her. Courtney realised then what was going on. Bridgette really did like Geoff, that much was obvious. They were probably even soulmates, like Geoff obviously thought they were. They _would _look really cute together.

Courtney sighed and walked over to help Bridgette pick up the pieces. She couldn't help feel that twinge of jealously she had felt when she found out about Tyler and Lindsay. And it was nothing to do with the people, but that they had found each other, and she hadn't yet. And she knew they were on this island, but she wasn't sure who it was yet, although she had a strong suspicion.

But that was ridiculous! They didn't even like each other. They had nothing in common. He was a terrible person who didn't have a stitch of empathy and could never love someone like that. Sure, she was attracted to him, she could admit that to herself (and _only _herself) but that didn't mean he was her _soulmate. _She knew there was only one sure fire way to find out the truth, but she wasn't about to just walk over there and kiss him, that could lead to major embarrassment.

But she could think of something else that might determine it for her, if only in her mind.

"Bridgette…" she started cautiously.

"Mmmm?" Bridgette responded absentmindedly, putting the chards of Geoff's present in her suitcase.

"Did you and Sadie decide to vote for Tyler in the end?" she asked, dreading the answer somehow. Bridgette turned to her, looking a little guilty.

"No, sorry. We voted for you. Or at least I did," Bridgette shrugged.

"Then who…?" Courtney started, but Bridgette interrupted her.

"I think you know who saved your ass, Courtney," Bridgette raised an eyebrow and Courtney looked at her hopelessly. "I'm going to see if Chris has any glue," Bridgette said, leaving Courtney kneeling on the floor of the cabin, her mind racing. Something inside her was sure now that Duncan was her soulmate. She didn't know if it was her heart or her head or the marks themselves, but she knew it with such a certainty that it ached.

And she was furious. She was so angry that she was forced to be connected in any way with such a vile, disgusting ogre. He may be her soulmate but she didn't have to like it, and she was going to fight it with every fibre of her being.

* * *

><p><strong>Ok whoops I know I said the last chapter would be the last one before I went away, but turns out I'll have more free time than I thought, and I'm really getting into this story now. So there might be a couple more before I go, but just be warned any one could be the last one.<strong>

**Hope y'all liked this chapter, let me know what you thought!**


	6. You Might See How Hard I'm Trying

It was Courtney's mission for the rest of the competition to ignore Duncan where possible, and when it was necessary to acknowledge his existence she would be as rude as possible. She didn't even flinch when he knocked her shoulder as he walked past her and she merely rolled her eyes at his glee at finding out the challenge was a hunting challenge. Of _course _he would enjoy shooting things.

After Owen had eaten everyone's beans that had been supplied for their breakfast, Chris led the campers over to a case of guns.

"And now for the team break downs," Chris addressed the campers. "The Killer Bass Hunters are; Harold, Geoff, and Bridgette," Chris threw paintball guns at the three of them. Courtney groaned at the choice of hunters. There was no way Harold was going to be any good with a gun, and Bridgette was an animal rights activist for crying out loud.

"Locked and loaded with Bass blue paint!" Chris continued. "And using orange paint are the Gopher hunters; Leshawna, Beth, Owen, Lindsay," he tossed over the red coloured paint guns. Owen cheered at his new position of hunter.

"This is awesome man!" he cried ecstatically.

"You also get these stylin' glasses and wicked camo caps!" Chris grinned. "The rest of you… are now deer," he stated. "Here are your antlers, noses, aaaand little white tails," he chuckled to himself. Courtney screwed up her nose at the costume. This was so not cute.

"Yeah, right!" Heather complained, voicing Courtney's thoughts. "I am _not _wearing that!"

"There is no way I'm a deer!" Duncan complained, his earlier delight at a hunting challenge immediately evaporating as Chris smacked a set of antlers, goggles and red nose onto his head. On second thought, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, Courtney smirked to herself at how foolish Duncan looked with the antlers on. So much for his bad boy appearance he worked so hard on. This challenge was already Courtney's favourite so far. She giggled to herself as Chris then attached the tail onto Duncan's backside, completing the ridiculous ensemble.

Owen also had a laugh, although not as discrete as Courtney's own laugh.

"What are you lookin' at?" Duncan sneered at the big blonde.

"Oh nothing," Owen smirked. "_Bambi," _he added maliciously, pulling Duncan's tail.

"You'd better be a good shot, tubby," Duncan poked Owen in the chest threateningly. The rest of the deer reluctantly put on their costumes and glared at anyone who tried to make fun of them.

"Alright, deer get ready! You'll get a three minute head start and then I'll send the hunters after you! And go!" Chris shouted. The Gophers quickly ran into the forest while the Courtney, Sadie, Duncan and DJ ran in another direction.

"Okay, I think we can stop running now," Sadie puffed. They all slowed down and walked at an even pace through the woods.

"At least we get a head start," Courtney mused to Sadie. Today was the day she was going to try and convince the girl to be in an alliance with her and Bridgette.

"I don't know about y'all but I'm outta here," DJ said being bounding off into the trees. Courtney, Sadie and Duncan stared after him in wonder.

"So, Sadie," Courtney said, shaking her head. "It must be really hard for you without Katie around."

"Oh, it so is! This is the longest Katie and I have ever been separated. Do you know what that's like?" Sadie said sadly.

"To be separated from your best friend?" Courtney asked in clarification.

"To be separated from you _soulmate_," Sadie corrected. Courtney inadvertently glanced at Duncan, who was trailing behind the two girls. She hoped he didn't notice.

"No, I don't," Courtney admitted.

"It's like, my chest won't stop aching. Even though I know I'll see her again soon," Sadie sighed. For Courtney, this just confirmed why she should never let herself get close to Duncan. She didn't need the excruciating pain of the separation, or the feeling of weakness because you need a person that much.

"It can't be that bad," Duncan snorted.

"Shut up, Duncan, it's none of your business," Courtney snapped.

"It's just a _person_," Duncan continued. "It can't possibly _hurt_ you to be away from them. At least not the way a broken leg hurts or a kick in the nuts," Duncan said assuredly.

"It hurts much more than that," Sadie sniffed.

"Whatever," Duncan rolled his eyes. Courtney scowled at him. She was supposed to be avoiding him, and here he was hanging around her like the plague.

"I think we should split up," she announced before walking off into the forest on her own.

She walked around for what seemed like hours without seeing another person. Why was this challenge so dull? Her thoughts drifted to Duncan and she found herself getting mad all over again that he was probably her soulmate. She could feel the rage under her skin and the disgust at having such a lowlife as a soulmate. She needed to find him and give him a piece of her mind. Or just insult him, or something. Ignoring him wasn't working, so maybe being a bitch would.

* * *

><p>Duncan strolled through the forest, minding his own business. This challenge was so lame. He really wanted to be a hunter. He considered removing the stupid tail and antlers but he knew their team would get disqualified and he didn't feel like losing today. And what was up with Courtney lately? She'd barely acknowledged him since their trip to Boney Island. She hadn't even made fun of his tail. Maybe she was trying to get back at him for ignoring her since their last challenge.<p>

He walked over to the river to get a drink, still lost in his own world. He narrowly avoided being shot by Owen before racing back into the woods. He wondered how the rest of his team were going. _God, this is so boring, _he thought as he wandered aimlessly through the trees. He glanced around to make sure there were no hunters around before pulling out a can of spray paint and practising his skull drawing skills.

"Why do you smell worse than usual?" came a condescending voice from behind him. He turned around to see Courtney pursing her lips at him, standing with her hands on her hips.

"It's Owen's stink!" he said defensively. "It's following me around like my juvenile record."

"Well, I'm heading back," Courtney said snootily. "This stupid game must be almost over by now." Duncan silently agreed with her and was prepared to follow her back to camp, except for the fact that she was headed in the wrong direction.

"You're going the wrong way," he informed her.

"Excuse me?" she scoffed. "I was a CIT, remember? I have a natural sense of direction. Camp is this way," she declared, pointing in the complete wrong direction, of course.

"No, it's that way," Duncan corrected. She rolled her eyes at him and ignored his advice, going the way she had originally said. Fine, if she wanted to get totally lost, that was her problem, but he wasn't about to do the same. Duncan went his own way, only to crash into her and find himself entangled in her antlers. He tried to pull away, as did she but as they pulled at each other they only seemed to get more stuck.

"Very funny," Courtney said, clearly not amused at all. "Now let me go!" What did she think, he'd planned this whole thing so he could be stuck to her? Like he wanted that!

"Hey, princess, this isn't my idea of fun either," he pointed out.

"Great, Duncan!" she said accusingly. "Now what?" she shrieked. Duncan briefly considered just taking off the antlers; that was the easiest option. But he knew Courtney would run off and tell Chris and then they'd lose the challenge. Plus, he now had an infallible excuse to be near her. After the avoiding she'd clearly been doing all day, she was now stuck with him, and the knowledge of that brightened Duncan's spirits considerably. Maybe he'd finally get her to admit she liked him.

"Do you wanna make out?" he suggested with a grin. Okay, he was pretty sure she wasn't going to say yes, but it was worth a shot. Even if the only outcome was that she was even more pissed at him, it was totally worth it. There was something about winding up Courtney that gave him a thrill. Was it that she was super hot when she was seething? Maybe. Or that he was pretty sure she could crush him with her bare hands? Also quite likely. But it was probably because she tried so hard to act cool, calm and collected all the time and the fact that he could get under skin meant that she wasn't really. And he liked that, because he knew that somewhere under that stuck-up-bitch exterior, there was a wild child waiting to burst out. And he would be the one to do it.

* * *

><p>Courtney's eyes widened at Duncan's words. She felt her face heat up and she hoped Duncan didn't notice the blush that covered her face, or perhaps he'd mistake it for anger.<p>

"No, I don't want to make out!" she snapped. Even though she really did. Like, a lot. So much for trying to avoid him. Now she was stuck to him, and all she could think about was how his lips would feel against hers and how she knew the lines or her chest would fill with colour as soon as their lips met. She could feel that familiar sensation of her heart pounding, trying to escape from the prison of her rib cage so that it could be with her soulmate. This was a horrible feeling. She wanted him so badly, and she knew it right now it would be so _easy _to just give in to her desires.

But she also knew that path led to heartbreak, pain and devastation. And not one hundred thousand dollars. So she took a deep breath and held onto her pride, though her whole body was screaming out for Duncan's touch.

"Come on, let's get back to camp," she said instead.

"We're going my way," Duncan insisted. Courtney hardly cared anymore, she just wanted to be removed from this excruciating situation as soon as possible

"Fine! Just hurry up!" she said impatiently. The two of them walked sideways in the direction that Duncan was adamant camp was in. The process was slow and any time Duncan tried to talk Courtney would hush him or give him a withering glare.

About halfway back to camp Chris's voice came through the loudspeaker telling them that the game was over. The two of them kept going, not even thinking that now they'd be allowed to take off their antlers.

They eventually made it back to camp, only to find both teams there staring at them. God, could this get anymore embarrassing?

"Oh this is too much!" Gwen said in amusement. Why was Gwen always there to make Courtney's humiliation worse? First the jelly and now this. One day she was going to slap that girl.

"Ooh, Duncan you sly dog, you!" Owen called lewdly.

"The girl can't keep her antlers off me!" Duncan snickered. Courtney was thankful Duncan didn't realise just how true that statement was. As it was, she was furious with him still, and that comment did little to calm her rage. She brought her foot back and kicked him square in the nuts with as much force as she could muster. The punk deserved it.

"Easy, Courtney, our medical tent's really only equipped for one person at a time and Cody's pretty messed up," Chris warned her. Courtney couldn't care less if Duncan needed the medical tent and couldn't use it. He had it coming, and she certainly felt a lot better now that she had emitted some of her anger.

Bridgette and Geoff walked over and separated the two of them. Duncan dropped to his knees, holding his crotch while Courtney stood over him, shooting daggers. This was totally all his fault.

* * *

><p>That night the Bass relaxed in their cabin as they awaited the return of the Gophers to see who had been eliminated.<p>

"Things are finally going well with Bridgette," Geoff told the guys. "No thanks to you, Duncan. I'm demoting you and replacing you with DJ."

"Hey, I gave you good advice, you just couldn't follow through," Duncan defended. Not that he really wanted to be Geoff's wingman, but he knew he was good with the ladies and he didn't want Geoff taking that away from him, just because Geoff himself was incompetent.

"Whatever, DJ was the one who got Bridgette talking to me again after the gift fiasco," Geoff pointed out.

"Not my fault your gift was lame," Duncan shrugged. "I'm excellent with the ladies."

"Then why haven't you hooked up with Courtney yet?" Geoff said, raising and eyebrow. "We all know you like her."

Duncan looked at him, stunned. He wasn't expecting the question. He couldn't formulate a response because he hadn't realised Geoff even knew he was _trying _to hook up with Courtney. In fact he'd barely even known it himself, but he knew that his actions towards the princess could only be explained by one thing; he wanted her.

He thought about the way he was practically always either following her around, or avoiding her because he didn't want anyone to know that he liked her. And he _did _like her. A lot. And he hated himself for it because she was exactly the kind of woman who drove him crazy, but maybe that was why he liked her so much.

He'd spent so long trying to deny it to himself and to everyone else, while simultaneously trying so hard to win her over in the most obscure ways; scaring her, antagonising her, comforting her, teasing her or encouraging her, but never once admitting to himself his true motives. Somewhere along the line he'd convinced himself he wanted her to admit that she liked him for the sole reason of it being embarrassing for her, but he'd totally ignored the underlying reasons that he felt in his heart.

The simple fact was that he really wanted her to like him because, well… he liked her. And he was terrified that maybe she didn't like him back after all because he knew that if it turned out she didn't like him back he would be a total laughing stock.

Geoff, DJ and Harold were staring at him as he opened at shut his mouth, trying to think of a snide comeback, but all he could think about was Courtney's lips so close to his when their antlers were entwined, and the pang of disappointment he felt when she'd rejected his offer of making out. At this point he didn't care if they were soulmates or not, but he knew it was likely, since she was the only girl on the island he was lusting after.

"Shit," he swore under his breath. "You're right," he looked at Geoff hopelessly. "I'm fucked. What the fuck am I going to do?"

Geoff, DJ and Harold stared at him in bewilderment, as if they hadn't really expected him to admit it.

"Just tell her you like her," Harold advised. Duncan glared at him as if he were stupid.

"Are you crazy? I can't let her know I like her! That would be humiliating," Duncan scowled. "It's bad enough that you guys know. And I swear to god if any of you say _anything _I will cut your throats in your sleep."

"Don't worry dude," Geoff assured him, "DJ and I will help you. Tomorrow at the challenge we'll do everything we can to make her like you."

"I'll help too," Harold sighed in agreement. Duncan nodded, his mouth forming into a tight line, lest he show any kind of emotion. He really hoped their plan worked.

* * *

><p><strong>Okay, so to everyone reading this, I have written four chapters since my last update (including this one). I'm really tempted to just post them all now but I won't because the reason I wrote them is so that I'll have something to post while I'm overseas and y'all won't have to wait 3 months for an update. So I'll try to post one a month while I'm in Europe and then I'll continue writing when I get back! <strong>

**Please still review while I'm gone, I love hearing feedback!**


	7. I'm Gonna Make You Want Me

**Wow guys I had a great response from the last chapter and I've been writing some more, so I decided to post this chapter early. I go overseas on Sunday so there definitely won't be another update after this until April! Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!**

* * *

><p>Duncan jumped out of bed and began his usual morning workout routine, only to find himself face to face with Harold's underwear. And this was not the first occurrence. His cry of disgust woke the other four guys and Geoff and DJ laughed at Duncan's misfortune.<p>

"Not cool, Harold, man! Not cool!" Duncan yelled at Harold.

"Those aren't mine," Harold denied.

"Oh, right!" Duncan scoffed. "You're always leaving your gitch lying around!"

"No I'm not! Gosh!" Harold folded his arms in annoyance. Duncan slipped on his shorts as DJ and Geoff got out of bed to join the argument.

"Ah, yeah you are, dude," Geoff countered.

"You have like absolutely no proof," Harold stated, getting out of bed himself.

"No one else wears that kind, dude," Geoff pointed out.

"And your mom sewed your name onto the label," DJ chuckled.

"Whatever! I'm going for a shower!" Harold said dramatically, grabbing his towel and leaving the cabin in his underwear.

"Hey, don't forget to clean the skid maker!" Duncan called after him. "I think Harold needs to be taught a lesson, boys!" Duncan said mischievously. "Who's with me?"

"Yeah!" DJ and Geoff agreed as the three of them high fived.

"It needs to be something to do with his underwear that's going to totally embarrass him and make him look like an even bigger idiot than he already is," Duncan mused.

"Maybe we should find out what the challenge is, and then we can decide where to go from there," Geoff suggested.

"Good plan," DJ agreed. Duncan was suddenly reminded of their conversation last night about Courtney.

"Speaking of plans… that conversation last night. We should just forget about it. I don't really like Courtney, I was just lying," Duncan said unconvincingly.

"Come on Duncan, we said we'd help, so we're going to," Geoff assured him. Duncan sighed. He knew there was no taking it back now, but he wished his feelings for Courtney were still a secret.

"What is your plan then?" he asked. "What do I have to do?"

"You just have to act normal," DJ instructed. "Like you said, you can't let her know you like her. Keep treating her the way you always do."

"Yeah, and don't act like you're trying too hard. Be cool," Geoff agreed.

"How is that supposed to help? It hasn't worked so far," Duncan scowled.

"That's where we come in," Geoff said proudly. "We're going to do everything in our power to make sure you two spend as much time together as possible."

"She already likes you," DJ said knowingly, "we just have to break down her walls so that she admits it."

"This doesn't sound like a very foolproof plan," Duncan said sceptically.

"Would you just trust us, dude?" Geoff said, pretending to be offended.

"Fine," Duncan exhaled dramatically. He hoped these two idiots weren't going to make him look like a fool I front of Courtney and the entire viewing audience.

"And DJ, you're still going to help me with Bridgette, right?" Geoff confirmed.

"You know it!" DJ said, giving Geoff a thumbs up.

"Come on, the challenge is going to start soon," Duncan warned them.

The three boys walked out to join the rest of the campers and Geoff gave Duncan a shove, pushing him so that he was standing next to Courtney. He turned to give Geoff a frown, only to look back at Courtney and find her glaring at him. He grinned at her and she made a noise of disgust before turning back to Chris.

Chris announced a cooking challenge, and the Duncan looked at Geoff and DJ in glee, a plan formulating in his mind already.

They made their way to the food truck and opened the doors.

"We could do a killer Italian theme!" Geoff said in excitement.

"Hello head chef!" Duncan grinned.

"Seriously?" Geoff asked. Duncan nodded. It was the least he could do since Geoff had agreed to help him with Courtney. Maybe Bridgette would be impressed by Geoff's leadership skills. "Then let's get grabbin'!"

As the team collected their ingredients and headed inside to Chef's kitchen, Duncan grabbed DJ and Geoff and explained his plan for Harold to them. The boys cackled malevolently until Courtney walked by them with Harold, a suspicious look on her face, and they quickly disbanded.

"Okay, we got like six people and three courses," Geoff said casually, throwing Harold a can of tomatoes. "So everybody partner up!" Duncan saw Geoff look meaningfully at DJ and Harold and he figured their plan was to partner him and Courtney together.

"I know how to make pasta sauce!" DJ offered.

"I know how to boil pasta…" Bridgette said and DJ high fived her. Duncan wondered if Geoff had recruited Bridgette for this plan too, but he hoped his friend wouldn't betray him like that.

"Me and Sadie can rock the antipasto," Harold grinned. Duncan was grateful that Harold had also decided to help with the plan, and he felt almost guilty for a moment about the trick they were going to play on him. "I'm like a black belt when it comes to cutting cheese." On second thought, he had no qualms whatsoever. Harold was a total nerd.

"I guess that leaves you and me on dessert detail," Duncan said suggestively, giving Courtney his most winning smirk and wiggling his eyebrows at her.

"Oh no," Courtney refused. "No way!"

"Come on, Courtney!" Geoff stepped in, doing his job as wingman. He put an arm around Duncan and around Courtney. "For the team," he convinced her. Courtney looked at both guys doubtfully. Duncan and Geoff smiled innocently and Courtney frowned, clearly not believing their act. It was like she could tell they were up to something.

"Fine," she sighed. "But you better not screw this up!" she warned. Duncan nodded and shared a look with Geoff. It was now time for phase one of the plan to teach Harold a lesson.

* * *

><p>Courtney watched disapprovingly as Duncan rolled out the pastry. It was just her luck to get stuck with him for the whole challenge. The deer hunting challenge had so not gone the way she wanted it to. She'd tried avoiding him and she'd ended up literally stuck to him, and he kept bringing it up whenever possible. Now it seemed like he was doing his best to annoy her again with his terrible pastry rolling skills. Couldn't he do anything right?<p>

"Careful your big paws don't mash the pastry!" she scolded as she mixed up the custard filling. She hadn't really wanted to let Duncan do either job but he insisted her knew how to make pastry so she eventually gave in.

"Careful your uptight butt doesn't curdle the custard!" Duncan snickered. He thought he was so hilarious! It was beyond Courtney how she even found herself attracted to the dumb punk, let alone be his soulmate. It was infuriating.

"Oh ha ha ha," she laughed sarcastically, before shrieking at the sight that had just walked back into the kitchen. Harold stood in the doorway wearing nothing but a shirt and a tiny pair of underwear.

"Okay, who took all my shorts?" he accused. Courtney shot a sidelong glance at Duncan not doubting for a second that he had something to do with it. At that moment Chris walked in and announced they had three hours left before they had to serve their meals.

"Can you just make sure it's even?" Courtney said to Duncan as they went back to preparing the dessert.

"I'm trying," Duncan replied. "You don't have to keep bossing me around," he scowled. Courtney eyed him suspiciously, but it really did seem like she was trying so she just went back to making the custard. That was until a shouting match erupted on the other side of the kitchen.

"Dinner and a show," Duncan chuckled.

"You should be thanking your lucky stars you have me on your team and not Heather," Courtney informed him.

"I am," Duncan said genuinely. Courtney met his eyes, feeling them boring into her soul. She suddenly felt flustered and she dropped her eyes back to the pastry.

"It looks fine now, you can put it in the oven," she said, trying to regain her composure as Duncan eyed her in interest. She pretended she didn't notice and went to take the custard to the fridge.

"Sadie!" she called. "The bench is all yours! I'm going for a walk. Bridgette, want to join me?" she asked. Bridgette nodded and the two of them skedaddled from the kitchen.

"What's up?" Bridgette asked once they were outside. Courtney had intended to confess everything to Bridgette, to get it off her chest so that she could finally breathe. Her certainty that Duncan was her soulmate, her decision to ignore that fact and the deep burning desire she had for him anyway. But now that they were alone, she couldn't bring herself to voice her fears aloud. It was a confession she knew she could never take back. She hesitated before speaking.

"Nothing… it was just really stuffy in there," Courtney lied. Bridgette saw right through her though.

"It's Duncan, isn't it?" Bridgette guessed.

"No!" Courtney denied. "Yes… I'm so confused. Can we talk about you and Geoff instead?" she said, a hint of desperation in her voice. Bridgette seemed to sense this so she let Courtney change the subject.

"Fine," Bridgette sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"How's it going? I mean… you seemed to be getting close with him," Courtney observed.

"Yeah, things were going well until today when he told me I looked like his friends hot mom," Bridgette rolled her eyes. "Am I supposed to take that as a compliment?" Courtney cringed. Geoff really had no idea.

"I mean, at least he's trying," Courtney pointed out.

"I guess," Bridgette shrugged. "I really do like him most of the time, and he's _really _cute, but sometimes he just says the dumbest things," she sighed.

"He thinks you're soulmates. People do dumb things for love," Courtney said wistfully.

"I guess you're right," Bridgette agreed reluctantly. "But this whole soulmate thing freaks me out still! I mean his shirt is _always _open. Those lines are kind of intimidating, you know? Whether or not they're for me." She glanced at Courtney and Courtney knew she wasn't going to like what was coming next. "Do you think Duncan's your soulmate?" Courtney didn't know how to reply. Should she admit to Bridgette how sure she was that Duncan was her soulmate?

"No," she said eventually. "No, definitely not." She said it with a tone of finality but she wasn't even sure she had convinced Bridgette, let alone herself. "I'm going to the confessional, you should head back," Courtney told Bridgette. The blonde nodded and Courtney went to the confessional to try and convince the viewing audience that Duncan wasn't her soulmate, since she couldn't seem to convince herself.

* * *

><p>"Somebody find Courtney, it's time to finish the dessert," Duncan said to no one in particular as he got out the tray of pastry and the custard from the fridge. He knew Courtney would probably want to do this part herself but she wasn't here and he was, so he got out a piping bag and began filling the pastry with custard.<p>

"They all have to have the same amount of custard!" came a voice behind him. He hadn't noticed Courtney sneak up on him, he was so busy concentrating on the dessert. He rolled his eyes and continued pumping.

"Oh relax, they're fine," he assured her. He thought they looked pretty damn good if he said so himself. Courtney was still looking angry though. "You know, you'd be a lot more fun without that pole up your butt."

"I'm like the most easy going person I know!" Courtney said defensively.

"Oh yeah, you're totally laid back," Duncan scoffed. Was she serious right now? Well, now he had a point to prove and he knew just how to do it. He didn't hesitate before squeezing the piping tube full of custard and squirting the yellow goo all over her face, grinning at himself.

Courtney cried out in outrage as the custard hit her face, and she looked less than impressed. She wiped the custard from her face slowly, looking like she was going to cut a man, before picking up the bowl of custard and flinging it at Duncan's head. She burst into laughter as the custard ran down his face.

Okay, that was definitely not what he was expecting. But then again, he had known there was more to Courtney than just an uptight control freak. And then she did something even more unexpected, running her finger across his forehead to scoop up some of the custard and then licking her finger. Was it wrong that he found it incredibly hot?

"Now who has a pole up their butt?" Courtney teased, obviously mistaking the look on Duncan's face for one of disgust.

"It's still you, princess," Duncan smirked, pulling the custard bowl from his head. "One custard fight does not make you a laid back person." Courtney screwed up her nose at him. "Now if you'll excuse me I have to remove this custard from my hair before we serve the food."

He left the kitchen on a high. Courtney had finally let loose for once, and it was because of him. She was actually smiling at him and teasing him. Could Geoff and DJ's plan actually be working?

* * *

><p>Courtney's heart was still thumping from the brief custard fight she'd had with Duncan. It had actually been kind of fun, and it was totally harmless. It didn't make her like him even more, or anything like that. Nope, definitely not. She was still as indifferent to him as she was on day one. He returned from the washroom with his hair all fixed up after getting the custard out of it, just as it was time to serve the dessert to Chris.<p>

Courtney picked up the plate of cannoli and gestured for Duncan to follow her out to the dining room where Chris was waiting. She placed the dish in front of him and stood back, waiting nervously for his verdict. If the Bass won this challenge it would be their third win in a row. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she glanced around to see Duncan trying to comfort her. He gave her a reassuring smile and she smiled weakly in return. He obviously knew how much this meant to her.

"Ehh…" Chris started. "Six." Courtney's face fell at the score and Duncan looked ready to murder Chris. Courtney was annoyed at herself. They could have got a higher score if she hadn't decided to participate in Duncan's dumb custard fight, she was sure of it. But then Chris announced that the Gophers needed a ten for their dessert to even get a tie and the two of them instantly brightened.

The Gophers dessert was a disaster, and if that wasn't amazing enough, the sight of a very angry, blue Heather with horribly drawn on eyebrows sure made everyone's day.

"The Bass win, twenty one to twelve. And it's not just 'cause I almost died. The ribs sucked too!" Chris declared. The Bass cheered while Heather went on a rampage.

"As promised the Bass will be enjoying a reward tonight!" Chris announced. "A five star dinner under the stars!"

The Bass erupted into cheers again at this news.

"Way to go guys!" Courtney grinned. Duncan turned and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her from the ground. She giggled, feeling dizzy and her heart pounding from the contact and the thrill of winning yet another challenge. But as much as she enjoyed being in Duncan's arms, she had a promise to herself she had to keep.

"Put me down," she told him, she was still smiling but she was fast becoming anxious. "Put me down!" she snapped after he ignored her the first time. He quickly placed her back on her feet, looking a little worried. She pursed her lips at him in annoyance. Why did he keep having to do things that made her like him? Couldn't he just stay away from her? Even when he was being purposefully annoying she liked him and she was really getting sick of it.

* * *

><p>While the Gophers headed to the campfire ceremony once again, the Bass were led by Chef to a clearing in the woods for their 5 star reward dinner.<p>

Duncan kicked at the ground, trailing behind the rest of his team, wondering how he messed up with Courtney so bad. He had thought he was making progress, but then at the end of the challenge she was back to hating him. And he was pretty sure she didn't _really _hate him, but she sure as hell was doing an excellent job of pretending to. But he couldn't for the life of him figure out why.

The group stopped dead when they saw what had been set up for them. A table stood in the middle of the clearing, adorned with candles and roses. In the trees someone had strung fairy lights that glittered like the stars above their heads. Even Duncan was impressed by the magical atmosphere that had been surrounded them. It could have been really romantic… if the girl he liked would talk to him, and if Harold wasn't there.

"Awesome…" Harold breathed. "Like… amazing!"

"Yeah," Geoff agreed next to him. Duncan saw DJ give Geoff a shove in the direction of Bridgette. Geoff cleared his throat and Bridgette looked up at him.

"Shall we?" Geoff held out his arm and Bridgette took it. Duncan rolled his eyes as Geoff led Bridgette to the table. If only things were that easy with Courtney.

Somehow DJ managed to orchestrate the seating arrangements so that Duncan sitting next to Courtney, much to her obvious annoyance.

"Hey, princess," he drawled, pouring her a glass of fake wine. She took the drink but ignored his comment.

"A toast!" DJ announced, standing up, holding his glass out at eye level. "To the Killer Bass and our third win in a row!"

"To the Killer Bass!" everyone cheered. Duncan went to clink glasses with Courtney but pulled his glass away at the last second, as she was still refusing to look at him.

"It's bad luck to not look someone in the eye when you clink your glasses," he whispered in her ear. She shivered at his breath on her neck and turned to face him. Her eyes shimmered with the reflection of the fairy lights surrounding the clearing and Duncan didn't take his eyes off her as their glasses touched.

"Well done today," he told her.

"Thanks," she said shortly. "We only got a six though. We could've done better if we'd stayed focused on the task instead of acting like children."

"Aw, is that what you're mad about? Come on, it was fun. And we still won, so what does it matter?" Duncan shrugged, grinning at her.

"It matters because we only won because the Gophers did terribly, not because we were good," Courtney snapped. "There's a difference, and it's knowing that difference that is the reason I'm going to go far in this competition and you aren't," she spat.

"I know you think you're better than me, but trust me, you aren't," Duncan snorted. "And I know you like me," he added with a wink. "You can deny it all you want, but I'll get you to admit it eventually."

"Your confidence is admirable," Courtney said scathingly, "but let's get one thing straight. I don't like you, and I never will," she said matter-of-factly.

"We'll see," Duncan smirked. She was trying way too hard to convince him that she didn't like him, which could only mean one thing; she most definitely did like him. Duncan chuckled at Courtney's aggravated groan, but he left her alone for the rest of the night. There was still plenty of time to win her over.


End file.
